High-Fructose Corn Syrup Update

H.S. for Sunday 092108

Hey folks,

Here is an update of sorts. In past Health and Science Segments, I talked about High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Back on Sunday, July 08, 2007, I posted High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is Everywhere.

I said this.

Myself and my Wife have been checking out this company. Jones Soda. I have to admit that I really only tried one flavor, and it was pretty good. I have my favorite brand of course, when I’m not drinking coffee. But she really likes the product. One really cool thing is you can have your own picture put on their bottles. I am not endorsing nor advertising them. If you want to check them out, go for it. I am simply telling you how I came to the topic this week.

On their website, they talk about high-fructose corn syrup, and the fact that it is not good for you. They link to the Seattle Times - Is high-fructose corn syrup making us fat? It's a sticky subject By Karen Gaudette Seattle Times staff reporter

The syrup began appearing in a multitude of foods in the early 1980s at a savings to manufacturers because it took less to sweeten a product. Between then and now, Americans went from consuming less than a pound of high-fructose corn syrup per person per year in 1970 to 42 pounds in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.

The nation's obesity rate has soared along nearly the same trajectory. And those who warn against consuming too much of the syrup began connecting these occurrences over the past five years, as public health officials declared obesity an epidemic and began searching for answers. Researchers have said that fructose may contribute to obesity by failing to trigger the body's internal switch that it's full.

I then issued you a challenge

This is true. Look for yourself the next trip to the store. The products that do NOT contain HFCS are A LOT cheaper. In some cases by half.

Then on Sunday, September 23, 2007, I posted You are Corn and Soy. Here I talked about this CNN article If we are what we eat, Americans are corn and soy, where I told you that Todd Dawson, a plant biologist at the University of California-Berkeley said this.

"I think where the danger comes in with corn is that much of the corn grown now in North America is going into making high fructose corn syrup," Dawson says. "So it's not that corn per se is bad, but it's the sweetener made from corn that gets into many of the foods that Americans are probably consuming too much of, and we now see that showing up as obesity and heart disease and potential for type 2 diabetes."

So it was looking pretty bad for HFCS. But then, just yesterday I saw this from Time.com - Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Really Good for You? By Lisa McLaughlin

So is it good for you, or is it really BAD?

The answer is somewhere in between, but high-fructose corn syrup is finding defenders from unusual corners. The American Medical Association recently announced at its annual policy-making meeting in Chicago that high-fructose corn syrup does not contribute more to obesity than sugar or other caloric sweeteners. Even Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has to agree. He criticized early versions of the CRA's ad campaign for its claims that high-fructose corn syrup is a "natural" product. "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose," says Jacobson. "High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature." But he admits that the sweetener gets a bum rap. "The special harmfulness of high-fructose corn syrup has become one of those urban myths that sounds right, but is basically wrong. Nutritionally, high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose may be identical."

Even the scientists who first floated the idea of a link between high-fructose corn syrup and rising American obesity rates aren't so sure. Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina, and Dr. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge published a widely read and quoted paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2004 noting that the rise in high-fructose corn syrup consumption paralleled the rise in obesity rates in the U.S. and hypothesized that the way fructose is metabolized could be uniquely fattening. But the authors say they were just putting forth a theory. It was meant to inspire further study, not be a definitive declaration.

Nutritionist, author and food-policy doyenne Marion Nestle has blogged and written extensively about the issue and says in response to the commercials, "Lots of people think high-fructose corn syrup is the new trans fat. It isn't. ... Biochemically, it is about the same as table sugar (both have about the same amount of fructose and calories) but it is in everything and Americans eat a lot of it — nearly 60 lbs. per capita in 2006, just a bit less than pounds of table sugar. High-fructose corn syrup is not a poison, but eating less of any kind of sugar is a good idea these days and anything that promotes eating more is not."

And therein lies the problem. The commercials claim that just like sugar, high-fructose corn syrup isn't unhealthy when consumed in moderation. But it's hard to know exactly how much of it we're actually consuming because it shows up in so many unexpected foods. "It was in my children's vitamins!" said Elise Mackin. Because high-fructose corn syrup extends the shelf life of foods, and farm subsidies make it cheaper than sugar, it's added to a staggering range of items, including fruity yogurts, cereals, crackers, ketchup and bread — and in most foods marketed to children. So, unless you're making a concerted effort to avoid it, it's pretty difficult to consume high-fructose corn syrup in moderation. "We did a consumers survey," says Doug Radi of Boulder, Colo., based Rudi's Organic Breads, "and less than 25% of them realized that high-fructose corn syrup is commonly used in bread."

Rudi's launched its own advertising campaign over the summer, encouraging Colorado consumers to read ingredients and nutrition labels before purchasing staple foods like bread. The company's aim is to get people to choose Rudi's, since its breads are free of high-fructose corn syrup. "Bread is one of those food items that has a halo of health — water, flour, yeast and salt. All natural," says Radi, "but today there are often 15 unpronounceable, unnecessary ingredients."

But where does that leave the average consumer? "I hate those commercials," says Doug Mackin, "but they do make you think. I'm still not convinced. And I prefer to eat all-natural products, but I'm a little less likely to freak out if my kid drinks fruit punch at a party."

So I guess we may have yet another "Coffee issue." In other words, today is good, bad, good, tomorrow it may be bad again. Red Wine? You get the point. I guess just like with most things, just take it in moderation. Especially since it is in just about everything.
Peter

Sources:
OPNTalk- High Fructose Corn Syrup
Time.com - Is High-Fructose Corn Syrup Really Good for You?